The Marquess of Bath's trustees asked the High Court in 2026 to let his surrogate-born son into the Longleat trusts

Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, inherited Longleat in 1946 with about £700,000 in death duties. In 1949 he opened it as the first stately home in Britain run as a commercial attraction. In 1966 he added the first drive-through safari park outside Africa. His son Alexander, the 7th Marquess, succeeded in 1992, removed his brother Christopher as estate comptroller and evicted him from the estate. Alexander painted erotic murals across the house and counted about 74 lovers he called "wifelets." In 2010 his son Ceawlin took over the business, put many murals into storage and painted the walls white. Alexander said in 2013: "It's my life's work and he's quietly binned it." Ceawlin's parents did not attend his 2013 wedding at Longleat. Alexander died of Covid-19 pneumonia on 4 April 2020. The family wealth sits in three settlements made in 1987 and 1993. They define "child" by pre-1970 law. Ceawlin's elder son John, born in 2014, is a beneficiary. His younger son Henry, genetically his and his wife's but born to a surrogate mother in America, may not be. On 7 May 2026 Judge Paul Matthews approved the trustees' plan to give Ceawlin a power to add Henry later. In 2026 Ceawlin, 8th Marquess, is life tenant of the Longleat trusts.